Team headshots by Lezli+Rose
About Us
Place Matters initially formed in 2019 as an informal collaborative of people and organisations who believed that the UK needed a core infrastructure and opportunities for shared learning and practice development that would enable community-centred, place-based change to thrive.
Our Journey
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Autumn 2019
A Collective Idea
Five place-based change enthusiasts (Graeme Duncan, Dame Julia Cleverdon, Jo Blundell, Emily Sun and Lela Kogbara) conceived the idea of a “centre” to enable more impactful and “sticky” ways of tackling significant social challenges in the UK.
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Spring 2020 - Spring 2021
Confirmed It Wasn’t Just Us
The group held a roundtable event with social sector organisations, funders and Government officials who endorsed the need for such a 'centre'. Our headline research paper More Than Infrastructure, was published to further demonstrate the need.
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Spring 2022 - Spring 2024
Tested + Developed Approach
Whilst incubated by Right to Succeed, the team tested approaches for facilitating learning and practice development through facilitating partnerships, hosting learning webinars and convening funders. We know our place-based methods work.
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Summer - Autumn 2024
Established our practice
We grew our team, capacity and knowledge of the sector. Place Matters became an independent legal entity registered by the Charity Commission to continue our mission to support and enable this work.
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Winter 2025
'In our future...'
We have some exciting things in the works… Including a place-based gathering, vital learning resources, and mapping even more community activity to showcase where place-based change is already happening.
Our Partners
We are grateful to the ecosystem of partners and supporters who have helped bring Place Matters to life, through their expertise, funding, collaboration and spirit. Our founding partners were Right to Succeed, Black Thrive Global, Tamarack Institute, Renaisi, Government Outcomes Lab and West London Zone. These partners formed a Steering Group which oversaw, advised on and continues to participate in the delivery of our work.
Some of our partners are knowledge partners. These are practice leaders who come together to share and develop data, knowledge, tools and methods to the benefit of the wider practice community. Some of our partners are field building partners. Whilst others are funding partners and supporters. All of whom contribute to our learning and evolution as an organisation.
Want to find out more about who we work with and support? Visit our Stories section.
Our team
We are a small but mighty core team who develop and guide the vision and strategy for our work and provide the enabling support and infrastructure for those delivering on the ground place-based change with communities.
Trustees
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Interim ChairAmanda Jordan OBE
Amanda is an experienced policymaker dedicated to achieving social justice through collaboration. After 30 years experience across the third sector and corporate world, she co-founded Corporate Citizenship, a leading global environmental and social impact consultancy. Throughout her career, Amanda has advised the UK Social Exclusion Unit, was a founding member of the National Lottery Charities Board, and chaired the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF). Amanda co-founded the #iWill campaign along with Place Matters’ founding Chair, Dame Julia Cleverdon, for youth and social action. Amanda is presently Chair of the Virgin Money Foundation.
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TrusteeGraeme Duncan
Graeme is founder and CEO of Right to Succeed, which is a charity that works to strengthen communities and systems that enable children and young people to succeed. Graeme set up the charity in 2015 after 12 years working in education, fundraising and policy. In 2003, Graeme was the first graduate hired by Teach First. He is passionate about collective working and establishing a place-based change approach to create strong communities where every child is supported to succeed.
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TrusteeLiz Weaver
Liz Weaver is co-CEO of Tamarack Institute, a connected network in Canada that develops and supports strategies to fight poverty and drive community change. It focuses primarily on vulnerable individuals, families and communities in deprived rural or peri-urban areas and from Indigenous or immigrant backgrounds, with the bold vision of ending poverty in Canada. Prior to her current role, Liz led the Vibrant Communities Canada team and has worked at the community level as the Director for the Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction.
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TrusteeAnna Randle
Anna is an experienced and values-led thought leader and practitioner in public service reform, strategy and organisational change. She works with many leading local authorities across the country, supporting them to collaborate with partners and residents and build place-based approaches to reform.
Until recently Anna was Chief Executive of Collaborate CIC. She was previously Director of Strategy at Lambeth Council, where she helped lead the Cooperative Council reform agenda, and an advisor to the Secretary of State for MHCLG. She was recently an Advisor to the Demos Public Services Taskforce, is currently an interim Strategic Advisor to New Local and a board member of the National Association of Primary Care.
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PatronDame Julia Cleverdon
Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE is a passionate campaigner who has gained a reputation for ‘connecting the unconnected’, inspiring communities and organisations to work together for the common good in the most challenged communities.
As CEO of Business in the Community (1991-2007), she worked closely with HM The King and later served as Special Adviser to The Prince’s Charities. She co-founded Step Up To Serve (#iwill), Chaired Teach First (2007-2014), and The National Literacy Trust. She now chairs The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. Dame Julia is a founding member of the Place Matters team, and former Chair. As our Patron, her guidance and ongoing support is integral to our work.
Team
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Co-CEOEmily Sun
Emily has a consulting background, working with organisations in the health, education and social sectors, that are interested in building cultures, leadership and teams where collaboration, learning and innovation can flourish. She specialises in working with organisations that are focused on community centred, multi-stakeholder approaches to enabling places to regenerate and thrive.
Previously, she was head of development at Impetus Trust, and UK HR Director for Eli Lilly and Company. She has an MBA from INSEAD.
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Co-CEOJo Blundell
Jo started her career in the NHS and continued to work with the public sector as a consultant, a service designer and as a board level executive leading growth and development in service delivery organisations in a range of sectors. Her interest is in designing and delivering transformation through collaboration and through engagement with citizens and people with lived experience.
She has an MA in Service Design from the Royal College of Art.
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DirectorLela Kogbara
Lela Kogbara is a qualified accountant and was a senior leader in the UK public sector for 25 years, including as Assistant Chief Executive for Islington Council, a director at NHS England and advisor at Department for Education. She was one of the founding directors of Black Thrive Global. Lela is currently a member of NHS England Advancing Mental Health Equality Taskforce, a trustee of DFN Project Search and of Liliesleaf Trust UK, and is on the board of Social Finance.
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Team EnablerPolly Orton
Polly has a background in architecture, community-led housing and grassroots organising. She holds a Masters degree in Sustainable Architecture from the Centre for Alternative Technology, where her interests developed in place-based community building and addressing barriers to participation. She strongly believes that empathy, inclusivity and knowledge sharing is key to driving systemic change.
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Senior Administrative OfficerAnita Janosi
Anita has a background in operations, administration, and market research, bringing strong organisational skills and a practical, solutions-focused approach to her work. She is passionate about supporting teams by creating structures and systems that enable others to excel in their roles. Having lived in various countries across three continents, Anita has witnessed inequality first-hand and is deeply committed to contributing to meaningful, place-based change that fosters a fairer and more inclusive society.
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AssociateDanielle Cohen
Danielle’s background is in building strategic partnerships in places and supporting development of the social economy. She has worked in neighbourhoods, cities and regions to enable community-led economic regeneration including with Power to Change and Better Bankside BID. Danielle is also a coach, and loves creating spaces for people to do their best thinking.
She has an MSc from the Centre for Human Ecology / University of Strathclyde.
